1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to animal feeders and particularly to a unique bird feeder for seed cakes having three dimensional ornamental shapes and providing a separate area generally around the cake for visiting birds to perch.
2. Background of the Invention
Conventional bird feeders constitute a container of sorts which retains loose bird seed and dispenses it into a bowl when a certain amount of the seed has been consumed, providing essentially a constant source of food so long as there is a supply in the container. Prior to these xe2x80x9cbinxe2x80x9d type feeders, the loose bird seed was simply deposited into a dish or loosely spread on a surface for the birds to eat.
Other feeders use a wire holder to retain a solid bar or cake of seed. Such solid bar or cakes are often referred to a bird-seed or suet-cakes, and are generally placed in a wire container cage so that squirrels or other animals don""t carry the cake away. For purposes of clarity, both products will be referred to generally as cakes. Moreover, the wire containers have been designed to have horizontally disposed perches for the birds to rest while they feed.
Some cake products have been designed and shaped into ornamental shapes rather than the more simply designed block or bars. Such cakes have been formed to look like bells, balls, pine cones, corn-on-the-cob, and the like. Substantially all are formed using by a mold process which lends itself to forming the cakes into a wide variety of shapes.
One of the disadvantages associated with the use of such ornamental cakes is that the animal grasps the cake with its claws in order to feed. This clawing action into the cake erodes the surface of the cake, causing the cake to deteriorate much more quickly than if the animals perched elsewhere. Moreover, many of the shaped products do not fit into the more conventional wire mesh cage feeders already on the market, nor do they work well with the more conventional bin-feeders designed for loose seed product.
It is a purpose of this invention to provide a feeder for use with ornamental, three-dimensional bird seed cakes which provides an attractive presentation for the homeowner, while simultaneously providing a perching structure for the animals to perch while feeding rather than on the product itself.
In its broadest form, the feeder assembly includes a substantially planar sheet of mesh formed from a plurality of interconnected strings rods or strands to define an array of geometric shapes, the mesh absent in a predetermined area interior of the array to define an opening in the mesh pattern. A hook member is provided which extends from the mesh into the opening, for providing a spot to hang an ornamental cake of feed. A hanger assembly is also provided, having one end attached to the mesh, and an opposite end configured to suspend the feeder from a substrate.
In another form of the invention, a substantially two-dimensional feeder assembly is provided which includes a substantially tabular sheet of mesh having a predetermined shape defined by a peripheral edge. An opening is defined to the interior of the tabular sheet of mesh configured to receive the ornamental cake. A hook member extends into the opening from the sheet of mesh to suspend the ornamental cake within the opening. A hanger assembly, having one end attached to the feeder is provided, and is configured such that the opposite end of the hanger may be used to suspend the feeder from a substrate.
In yet another form of the invention, a bird feeder is provided, comprising a tabular wire grid of predetermined dimensions, having an enlarged opening formed therein. A hanging member is attached to at least one edge of the tabular wire grid, and a hook member is attached to the wire grid and extends into the enlarged opening for hanging an ornamental bird seed cake thereon.
Different embodiments of the invention include a range of materials for constructing the feeders, including metal wire or rods, polymeric strands or rods, or a woven cloth mesh. To preserve the durability and strength of the mesh, the mesh may be coated with a polymeric material. The mesh may be formed to define any one of a number of different geometric shapes, including but not limited to, polygons such as triangles, squares, parallelograms, diamonds, hexagons, octagons, and the like. It is also contemplated the mesh may be formed from a disjointed array of interconnected strands or rods such that there is no inherent pattern displayed in the mesh or at the outer margins or periphery. Moreover, the mesh may be formed in the shapes of circles, squares, diamonds, triangles . . . virtually any shape which is desired for hanging the ornamental cakes.
The advantages offered by these feeders is that it provides a perch immediately adjacent the cake for the animals while feeding. This substantially reduces the premature destruction of the cake by the perching of the animals on the cake. Secondly, the planar or tabular shape of the feeder disposed around the cake is much less expensive to manufacture than the more conventional xe2x80x9cbinxe2x80x9d and wire cage feeders. Secondly, the substantially two-dimensional characteristic of the feeder provides flexibility in the forming of different geometric designs for flexibility in satisfying customer taste.